So Guns N’ Roses play the Key Arena Friday night. Tickets are still available ($40.11 to somewhere in the $87 range, including those beloved service and handling fees). If you go, let us know how it is.
The band once hailed as saviors of rock essentially consists of several hired guns behind lead singer Axl Rose now, and on some level that’s more than enough for a lot of people. The Key Arena crowd is sure to get plenty of G N’ R hits, played with some level of skill. One of the dubious bonuses of the show (depending on your penchant for schadenfreude) is likely gonna be the current state of Rose himself, who’s transformed into an overweight, plastic-surgery enhanced, tinkering eccentric (2008’s Chinese Democracy was the band’s first new, all-original full-length in a whopping 17 years). In a sense, he’s become the heavy metal equivalent of Brian Wilson, sans the oddball sweetness and flashes of fevered genius.
I actually saw the original G N’ R line-up open up for goth-metal combo The Cult, back in (and this makes my bones creak) 1987. Appetite for Destruction had just hit stores, and it was a good six months before “Sweet Child O’ Mine” exploded. Before the fallout of hype descended, they struck me as an above-average but unspectacular hard rock act, with a singer who sounded like an extra-nasty chihuahua in a street fight or a heavy-metal version of The Three Stooges’ Curly, depending on the song. When they became so huge, I just didn’t get it. Then again, what did I know? I thought Faster Pussycat were better.
Last time Guns N’ Roses came through the Northwest a few years ago, Rose’s blown-out pipes inspired grimaces and walk-outs from more than one local rock journalist. Any fans harboring hopes for an improvement from that state this Friday probably won’t be heartened by this video from October, in which the guy looks like a hesher version of Inspector Gadget and sounds a little fatigued. Oh, well, at least he rocks harder than those guys in Maroon 5. A little. Maybe.
Well Tony Kay,
You certainly don’t do much research into Your articles do You?
Axl has been in much better shape the last couple of months…follow the tour much? He’s been killing it and looking like He’s enjoying himself.
He and the band have been receiving nothing but great reviews.
You sound like someone that isn’t so much a music fan as someone with there head up there backside, offering his opinion based on hear say…Come to the show on Friday and see what You’re talking about.
Or as Axl has said before…”Get in The Ring”
But keep Your ridiculuosly, misinformed thoughts inside Your tiny brain!
I agree with David Anderson. The Rock In Rio show was unfortunately a bad night for him, and the raincoat added some weight, but if you had bothered to look up any other reviews or the numerous LIVE VIDEOS (dating right up until last night in Salt Lake City), you would see that your description is wholly inaccurate.
Not only is he far from overweight, he sounds great. I imagine you’re not looking quite as fit as you were in 1987, either.
I will be attending the Vancouver show. I was hesitant about this because the “classic” lineup is no longer part of the band, but after doing some RESEARCH, I decided to buy tickets. Maybe you should learn how to use Google and Youtube to do some research of your own before writing biased articles.
Was this article written for “filler” and started 3 minutes before deadline? Everyone here is correct. This article is inaccurate and has a few cheapshots to try and make it sound interesting.
I agree,.. Axl’s comeback has been phenomenal,. with nothing but outstanding reviews. I’m still a huge fan of Axl and GN’R. Everyone keeps talking about “hired Guns”,. these hired Guns have been with the band for some years and I’m sure if this incarnation of the band is together longer than the original line up they will still be referred to as “hired guns”,. it’s pretty sad,. but they are kickin’ ass all across America… the hear say thing,. it’s pretty obvious that’s a lot of what was going on when Chinese Democracy came out,. if anyone actually listened to the music and appreciated it for what it is,.. it’s f*n great,. instead they all jumped on the Axl bashing bandwagon without any thing real to back it all up,. who gives a shit if slash isn’t doing the songs,. it’s good music.
Also, Duff McKagan’s Loaded is opening, so that’s pretty awesome. Here’s hoping he’ll come out and do a song or two w/ GNR.
I wasn’t sure about this line up either, but after seeing some videos of the current tour it looks like it’s going to be a fun show! And like I’ve said a few times already, Axl seems like he’s grown up a bit.
just another lazy reporter. here’s a clip of GN’R’s first Civil War in over 15 years. http://bit.ly/sZdSsj
and do your readers a favor – don’t go so you can complain about the time it starts and how long it goes.
There are definitely a few holes in my research/observations, and I’d be neglecting my duties as a journalist if I didn’t address them.
1) Use your Illusion I and II were released by Geffen in September 1991; Chinese Democracy saw official release in November 2008. This means that it was a 17-year, two-month gap between releases of original full-length recordings by Guns N’ Roses, not 17 years as I reported.
2) My Inspector Gadget reference was, to be fair, a bit off-base. Rose’s yellow raincoat and black stud-banded fedora are way spiffier than the rather frumpy grey coat and hat sported by Gadget, and Rose’s headgear did not, to my knowledge, sprout any helicopter blades or fire-extinguishing equipment during the Rock in Rio performance. Axl’s hat, however, is still not as snappy as the chapeau worn by Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp; and I will stake my reputation as a music writer on that assertion.
http://youtu.be/WV9Y0Qy0U20
3) The dark colors Axl is wearing in the YouTube footage of the December 4 Nashville Guns concert (specifically, the band’s rendition of “Don’t Cry”) slim him nicely, and his facial hair is groomed with professionalism and neatness. My apologies for this oversight.
There. I feel better now.
hey tony…. SUCK IT! AXL IS THA F’N MAN! IM HEADING THERE SOON TO WITNESS THIS MASSIVE TOUR! AND DUFF IS GONNA OPEN WITH LOADED! AND YOU JUST KNOW DUFF IS GONNA JOIN AXL AND THE GUYS FOR A FEW SONGS! CANT WAIT!